Jimy Williams
James Francis "Jimy" Williams (born October 4, 1943) is a former manager of three Major League Baseball teams. Playing career Williams, a former infielder who threw and batted right-handed, graduated from Arroyo Grande, California, High School and Fresno State University. He signed originally with the Boston Red Sox and was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Rule V lottery. He appeared in 14 games for the Cards over two seasons -67, but had only 13 at bats, compiling a batting average of .231. Although he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds after the 1967 season, then selected in the expansion draft by the Montreal Expos, he never appeared in an MLB game for either club. The first pitcher Williams ever faced was Sandy Koufax. He got his first hit off another Hall of Famer: Juan Marichal. Coaching career His playing days cut short by a shoulder injury, Williams began his minor league managing career with the California Angels in . He soon reached the Triple-A level and was appointed the third base coach of the Toronto Blue Jays in . He had the job for six seasons, until he was promoted to manager in when Bobby Cox left to join the Atlanta Braves organization. Williams lasted until the season, when he was fired after a very poor start and replaced by Cito Gaston who went on to win two World Series championships with the team. He spent 1991–96 with the Braves as their third base coach, working again under Cox. While with the Braves, Williams developed an outstanding reputation as a teaching coach, especially adept at working with infielders. Williams has since managed with the Red Sox, leading them to wild card playoff berths in and (the latter involved the Red Sox reaching the American League Championship Series against their arch-rivals the New York Yankees, who wound up beating them 4 games to 1). But Williams' relationship with general manager Dan Duquette soured, especially after Duquette publicly backed volatile outfielder Carl Everett after a September dispute with Williams. When the Red Sox, depleted by injuries, slumped in August , Duquette fired Williams. The club then lost 27 of 43 games under Duquette's appointee, Joe Kerrigan. Williams then took command of the Houston Astros beginning in . While serving as a National League coach at the All-Star Game in Houston, at a time when the Astros were struggling at the .500 mark, the crowd at Minute Maid Park responded to the introduction of Williams with a decidedly mixed reaction, in contrast to the ovations generally given members of the home team who are introduced at an All Star game. The Astros fired Williams and two principal coaches the following day, having likely waited until after the festivities to avoid a public embarrassment. Williams was replaced by Phil Garner, who led the Astros to within one game of going to their first ever World Series before managing Houston to the NL pennant in 2005. He was named the Phillies bench coach on October 16, 2006 and continued with that role through the Phillies 2008 World Series Championship season. Williams decided not to return to his position for the 2009 season. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said "As far as I know, it's not like that he left on a bad note. He was pretty happy. I guess there's things he wants to think about." Jimy Williams is not to be confused with James Bernard Williams, a former minor league outfielder and manager and MLB coach with the Astros and Baltimore Orioles. The baseball careers of the two Williamses somewhat overlapped. Managerial record References External links *Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics and managing record *Philadelphia Phillies Bio Category [[Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:People from Santa Barbara County, California Category:Major League Baseball players from California Category:Major League Baseball bench coaches Category:Major League Baseball third base coaches Category:St. Louis Cardinals players Category:Major League Baseball managers Category:Manager of the Year Award Category:Toronto Blue Jays managers Category:Boston Red Sox managers Category:Houston Astros managers Category:Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Category:Toronto Blue Jays coaches Category:Atlanta Braves coaches Category:Philadelphia Phillies coaches Category:Coaches Category:Managers Category:Second Basemen Category:Shortstops